On the afternoon of November 11, Minister of Environment Cho Myung-rae of Korea and Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu of China held a video conference of the "2nd Korea-China Annual Environment Minister Meeting" between Seoul and Beijing. They discussed ways to strengthen environmental cooperation between the two countries, such as cooperative response to fine dust and achieving a carbon-neutral society.

This meeting is significant as it is the first meeting to be held after the declaration of carbon neutrality* by the two countries this year and it is held ahead of the season of high concentration of fine dust.

* Announced the achievement in 2050 for Korea (National Assembly municipal speech on October 28) and before 2060 for China (UN General Assembly on September 22)

Earlier, the two countries agreed to regularize the high-level policy council every year at the Korea-China Annual Environment Minister Meeting held in China in February 2019. They held the first meeting in November 2019 to sign the "Blue Sky Plan*", which is the highest plan for cooperation in the field of atmosphere.

* Promoting 9 projects in 3 cooperation areas including policy and technology exchange, joint research and technology industrialization

At this meeting, the two countries enhanced cooperation between Korea's seasonal management system (December to March) and China's autumn and winter plan (October to March) for the fine dust free sky. They agreed to promote the council for exchanging policies and technologies to achieve a carbon-neutral society.

The main contents of each agenda discussed at this annual meeting are as follows:

(Fine dust response) The two countries agreed to evaluate the smooth implementation of the 'Blue Sky Plan', an air quality improvement project between Korea and China, despite COVID-19. Also, they agreed to make best efforts to respond to fine dust together as a atmosphere sharing community.

In particular, the two countries agreed to strongly promote their seasonal management measures for fine dust this year. In addition, they agreed to further strengthen cooperation* in areas such as carbon reduction projects and forecast exchange.

* Seasonal management system through two regular meetings (1st meeting on November 13th) including the sharing and cooperation of measures in autumn and winter seasons

(Climate change response) Based on the declaration of carbon neutrality* between Korea and China, the two countries decided to enhance cooperation in response to the climate crisis such as the Green New Deal. They agreed to expand the Blue Sky Plan, including the policy and technology exchange council to achieve a carbon neutral society.

* (President Xi Jinping of China, September 22, UN General Assembly) Achieving carbon neutrality before 2060 which is after the peak emission occurring before 2030 (President of Korea, October 28, National Assembly Corrective Speech) Declaration of the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050

(Strengthening international cooperation) In addition, the two countries agreed upon the importance of international cooperation and partnership for overcoming COVID-19 as well as the climate and environmental crisis. They decided to enhance cooperation on the international stages, such as the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, scheduled to be held in May next year in Kunming, China and the 2nd "Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G)" Summit, scheduled to be held in Korea in the first half of next year.

"The blue sky is a daily life that we promise for our people who are exhausted by COVID-19," said Minister Cho Myung-rae. "We will continue practical cooperation with China to remove fine dust and overcome the climate crisis."